1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable electric cattle guard.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Cattle guards function both as a gate and fence, keeping livestock from crossing, but allowing automobiles, tractors and the like to pass freely. Such guards are designed to do away with the inconvenience of having to get out of the vehicle and physically open and close a gate. They also prevent livestock from escaping where the gate is not properly closed, either accidentally or negligently.
In its earliest form, cattle guards were made from wooden poles or logs which were spaced in parallel fashion over a pit in the roadway. Modern cattle guards are made with metal bars set in a concrete frame. They are permanent structures and have the disadvantage that they cannot be easily relocated if the guard is needed in some other location.
After electric fences came into common use, the portability problem was addressed by proposing an electric cattle guard. Some of these cattle guards include an electrified metallic frame suspended over a base (U.S. Pat. No. 2,800,304 to Van Alsburg). The frame is insulated from the base and spring biased such that a vehicle can drive over it. A variant on this design makes use of wires instead of bars, rendering the device, while still cumbersome and heavy, slightly more portable (U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,915 to Shirley). Others have tried embedding a grid of conductive wires into a rubber mat (U.S. Pat. No. 2,555,180 to Adkins). This idea sounds good except, based on applicant""s experience, the wires stiffen the mat such that it cannot be rolled up and tend to break out of the mat as they must be only partly embedded to shock an animal.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electric cattle guard formed of a flexible material that can be rolled for transport. It is another object to provide an electric cattle guard that is not damaged when it is rolled. Other objects and features of the invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.
In accordance with the invention, an electric cattle guard is formed from a first and second elongated mat. The first elongated mat is formed of a flexible insulating material and has an upper and a lower face. A recess is provided in the upper face of the first elongated mat within which is framed the second elongated mat.
The second elongated mat is adapted to substantially span a gate opening and is formed of a flexible insulating material interspersed with a plurality of electrically conductive particles, fibers or a mixture thereof. The electrically conductive materials are provided in an amount sufficient to apply a high voltage, low energy shock to an animal making contact with the second elongated mat when it is energized. For this purpose the second elongated mat has an electrically conductive strip at one or both ends, said strip adapted to make electrical contact with an electric fence energizer.
The invention summarized above comprises the constructions hereinafter described, the scope of the invention being indicated by the subjoined claims.